HATFIELD TWP. — The township’s board of commissioners granted final approval Wednesday to the 2013 budget that holds the line on taxes and defers any full-time hires.

Commissioners Scott Brown and Gerald Andris voted against an amended version of the second option included in the township’s original budget presentation.

Brown and Andris also voted against maintaining the township’s real estate tax millage at 4.345 and the Homestead Exemption at $70,000, measures approved by the other three commissioners.

The elected officials had raised taxes the last three years, according to township Manager Andrew Haines.

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The amended budget option, presented by Haines at the public workshop meeting, removes $200,000 in expenses previously targeted for road improvements and defers a projected hiring of an officer to the Hatfield Township Police Department.

According to Haines, the commissioners have agreed to reassess the township’s personnel needs in June or July.

The manager said next year’s budget will require the commissioners to borrow approximately $750,000 to cover its expenses in January and February, and the tax anticipatory note to do so will cost the municipality $7,000 in interest.

The second of the four budget options presented in November called for removing $200,000 for road improvement projects while maintaining the Homestead Exemption at $70,000.

The amended option includes removing that $200,000 for roadwork, an additional $200,000 as revenue, removed $65,000 for the cost of a replacement officer for the Hatfield Township Police Department and reallocated Commissioner Tom Zipel’s $4,000 stipend to the county library ($2,000) and to the Hatfield and Colmar fire companies ($1,000 each) as well as reducing the capital maintenance plan at the Hatfield Aquatic Center by $13,000.

Commissioner John Thinnes said he voted for the budget because it maintained the current level of township services while deferring future hires.

“If there is not enough money for public works projects, so be it,” Thinnes said during the meeting. “There were not enough votes for a tax increase.”

Zipfel said maintaining the status quo was better than implementing a tax increase for residents who can’t afford it.

Brown proposed four amendments to the amended second option. The first – which called for reinstating the $200,000 for roads and “figuring out later how to pay for it” – received affirmative votes from Brown and Thinnes.

Amendments to reinstate $65,000 to hire a police officer, add $15,000 to the salary line of the non-uniformed employees and delete the proceeds from the sale of the Williams-Kinmdig House – estimated at $225,000 – did not receive a second.

Brown suggested that the board ought to consider raising property “a little bit this year,” to cushion the blow of a much larger increase in 2014.

The commissioner suggested that the township could face a deficit of more than $1 million, which could mean a future tax increase of more than $80 for the township’s median property owner.

Follow Bradley Schlegel on Twitter @BSchlegel1027.

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